The History of Panem
by T.j.98
Summary: For over one thousand years, the Snow Dynasty has ruled over the nation of Panem. Their history can't be seperated from the history of Panem. This is a look into Panem's early history, as well as how it would turn out if the Capitol won.
1. Preface

For over one thousand years, the Snow Dynasty has ruled over the nation of Panem. Under their watchful gaze, they shaped Panem from a minor successor kingdom struggling to survive in the aftermath of the Global Collapse of Civilization into a modern empire that currently the dominant superpower in the world. As such, the history of Panem can not be separated from the history of the Snow Dynasty.

Te best effort will be given to have an objective view of each President in the Snow Dynasty with the limited information available. Since this history spans over one millennia, it will be necessary to get information not only from historical records but also from other first hand records, from second hand sources, and even from archeological evidence.

Both the positive and negative aspects of each president will be shown, even if it goes against polar opinion in some cases. It is important to remember that the history presented is backed by evidence complied for the twenty seven years.

It is only now, in our modern time, that it is possible to produce such a work while still maintaining accuracy. In past eras, those involved in the publishing or producing of such a work would have seen their work censored or be judicially punished.


	2. Chapter 1:The Founding Father

**Name:** Benjamin Snow

**Titles:** Grand Knight of the Panem Kingdom, the freedman

**Posthumous titles:** Founder of Panem, President of Panem, Father to us all, Patriarch of the empire, Headpeacekeeper of the Armies

**Born: **462- 458 B.D.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,004- 10,000 A.D)

**Died:** 394 B.D.D (Gregorian Calendar: 10,081) [food poisoning]

**Age at death:** 72-67 years old

**Parents:** unknown

**Spouse(s):** Lucy

**Children:** Adam and Malcroy

* * *

**Elsewhere in the world**

The Panem continent:

The continent is divided in a continuous state of total war as twenty three successor kingdoms constantly struggle against each other for the remains of old North America.

The last remnant of the U. S. government is confined to the defensive walls of Washington D.C., and will just barely fend off a determined siege by the Virdian Kingdom, which is at the time the strongest military power on the continent.

The Kingdom of Panem will fight a war of independence against the Orion Kingdom, a successor kingdom that resided in what is now District 1 and the eastern half of District 7.

The Latin Continent:

The ancient and declining Nation of Colombia is locked in a two front total war with Equitoria to the west and the Marxist league to the east.

The region once known as Brazil is divided into several powers ranging from successor kingdoms to city states.

The Patagonian tribes have begun to purchase slaves from Antarctica. Missionaries from the Brazilian region have triggered a religious revival.

The Europa Continent:

The United Kalmar Empire successfully crushed a revolt in their Britannia Provence, and have now sent settlers to Icelandia. St. Knut, a catholic preacher, has triggered a religious revival there and a wave of mass-conversions seeps the nation.

The Tunisio-Sicilian war turns in the Papal island's favor following the victory of the Knights of St. John at the battle of Pachino.

The Francian Emperor Clovis III officially joins the Tunisio-Sicilian war on the side of the Papal island, deploying a fleet against the Tunisian navy to wrest control of the Mediterranean Sea.

Belguim, a small state extending from the sea to the northern banks of the Scheldt river, sends an expedition of four cargo ships to the Moroccan coast with the intention of returning with valuable wares to sell to the nobility of the surrounding kingdoms. Only three ships survive to return, but they are filled to the brim with valuable wares. This is the start of what will in later years turn the micro state into a prosperous trading empire.

Middle Eastern subcontinent:

New Mecca is founded, where it will be the Capitol of the Islamic Caliphate for 800 years.

The Dominion of the Israelites begins to recover following the end of a forty year crop failure.

The Anatolian civil war ends with the Marxist revolutionaries surrendering following a series of crushing military defeats.

The Indian city states are currently experiencing a cultural renaissance.

Africa:

The Tunisian Consulates attempt to invaid the Papel island failed, and they are losing the war. The mercenaries they recruit to supplement their armies are ransacking their own countryside.

An outbreak of disease erupts in Egypt, spreading south down the Nile with disastrous effects.

The south of Africa has experienced its seventeenth bumper crop in a row.

Asia:

The Korea-Japan republic launched a whether satellite into orbit, the first artificial body launched into space in over eight thousand years.

The Slavic Confederation is locked in a war with the Chinese ofer control of eastern Siberia. They have been fighting for one hundred years with no end in sight.

Oceania:

The Australian Navy, which under the previous president was strictly for defense, invades new Zealand. The president suspends the freedom of protest to quell anti war sentiment. Despite this, he is reelected following the suicide of his chief running opponent.

Antartica:

An outbreak of disease starts inland and reaches the coast.

* * *

**Early Life**

Benjamin Snow was born in a rural village believed to lie on the border of what would in later generations become the Capitol and District 2. His obscurity at birth, combined with the fact that he refused to disclose his family life with anyone during or after his rise to power, makes it impossible to know very much about his home life.

However, what we do know is that he was born to poverty and became a adept huntsmen to survive. Based on naming conventions of the time, it is likely that he himself was born of wedlock. While there is no evidence about his past, there have been some theories.

One theory was that he was close to his mother, and that seeing her come to harm by the Orion government caused him emotional distress as well as being the start of his belief that southern Orion should have home rule.

The second leading theory is that he was not close to his mother, and even suffered abuse or neglect at her hands; this would explain why he seemed to be avoiding his past and why he could not tolerate seeing the Orion government abuse others.

Either way, nothing can be known for sure about his past.

* * *

**Rise to prominence**

The first record of Benjamin is of him appearing out of the woods and entering the city of Belford at the age of 22, named after a previous king of Orion. In the city, the magistrates daughter was kidnapped by The Black Dagger; an organization that existed at the time and was formed with the intention of bringing about an anarchist state. The Black Dagger kidnapped luck with the belief that holding a hostage could force the Orion kingdom into negotiation.

The magistrate, Henry Fisher, recruited several civilians (one of whom was Benjamin Snow) to serve as bodyguards for his trusted assistant who went to the designated location to negotiate. The negotiation went fell through, and resulted in a shootout in which the assistant and most of the drafted bodyguards were killed. When offered a chance to join, the few remaining bodyguards accepted.

It is unknown by historians if Benjamin Snow was originally trying to rescue Lucy from within, or if he initially wanted to join The Black Dagger and became disillusioned with them later on. All that is known is that after spending eight months gaining the organizations trust, he was able to find out where Lucy Fisher was being held. By strategically planting timed explosives around the compound, he and Lucy were able to escape amidst the chaos.

* * *

**Heroism and romance**

After returning with the magistrates daughter, Henry Fisher vowed to repay the debt. He made sure Benjamin Snow received an education normally reserved only for the Orion nobility. It was in this time that Benjamin Snow learned the strategies of military of the time period, as well as becoming educated in various other fields. It is believed that this was the time when he began his courtship of Lucy Fisher. After two years of courtship, they were married. Since Henry Fisher was a magistrate, most of the nobility objected to the marriage; their objections were ignored.

Within the first week of their marriage, Lucy was impregnated with twins; they would be named Adam and Malcroy. However, the young couples happiness would not last.

* * *

**The Rape**

King Armstrong Orion was personally leading a campaign to capture an enemy castle along a border shared with a kingdom to the north, so Prince Stephen Orion was to rule in his absence. While the King was away, Prince Stephen decided to go on a good will visit to Belford. The prince was treated with hospitality in the Fisher estate, where he stayed for the duration of his goodwill visit.

According to legend, Prince Stephen, who was already married, first became infatuated with Lucy fisher when he was watching her mend her husbands cloak; her beauty and virtue inflamed the evil passions in him.

One night, while her husband was out fishing with her brother and father, he snuck into her room quietly enough to avoid waking the bodyguards or servants. He locked the door behind him so as to make sure the room was soundproof. He then woke her, pointed a gun at her, and gave his ultimatum; she could consent to his advances and become his mistress, or he would kill her and one of the servants and everyone would believe he caught her having an affair and defended her husbands honor (consensual adultery was punishable by death during this time period). She refused, stating she would rather die that betray her husband. This infuriated Prince Stephen that he violently raped her right then and there.

He left immediately afterwards, believing Lucy too traumatized to tell anyone what he did. He was wrong, and it would prove to be his downfall.

* * *

**Blood Pact of Vengeance**

Lucy showered for a few hours, then dressed herself in black and waited for her father, brother, and husband to get home. When they got home, she made them call witnesses, and once the witnesses arrived she disclosed that she was raped. There are currently two versions of what happened next.

The first version holds that while they were discussing what corse of action to take, Lucy used a knife she got from the kitchen to commit suicide by plunging it through her heart.

The second version also has the others discussing what to do, but differs from the first one in that Lucy did not commit suicide but instead died quietly from internal bleeding caused by the rape. In both versions she died in her fathers arms and her body was laid down on the bed.

Benjamin became distraught, holding her and kissing her and saying her name and telling her he loved her. He broke down a wept considerably. Her brother, Bruce Fisher, reacted with sorrow but also with fury. He took the dagger she used to end her life with (or his own hunting dagger if she didn't kill herself), cut his hand to induce bleeding, and passed it along to his father and brother in law. They took a blood oath of vengeance.

(Historians do not know for sure that these were the exact words they use, but is is generally agreed that something along see lines was said) "By this blood - most pure despite the evil wrought by the king's son - we swear, and you, O Lord God, we call to witness that we will drive from these lands Armstrong Belford Orion, together with his cursed son and his whole brood, with fire and sword and every means in our power, and we will never again suffer them or anyone else to reign over our lands. Nobody shall harm our family with impunity."

* * *

**Revolution**

Having sworn to take revenge against his wife's rapist, Benjamin Snow headed strait to Belford accompanied by Henry and Bruce. There they assembled the nobility of the city and its surrounding countryside, disclosed that Benjamin Snow's wife was raped by Prince Stephen, and called upon all of them to declare independence from Orion. The nobility, while previously disapproving of Lucy marrying a commoner, had mostly come to regard Benjamin as one of them by this point despite the fact that he would acknowledge his roots via show of charity. To learn the nightmare he was going through legitimately upset many of them, as well as enraging the masses who were allowed to observe meetings provided they did not disrupt them.

To understand why this resulted in a revolution immediately, it is important to understand the problems in Orion that caused anti-Orion sentiment in this region to approach a boiling point well before the rape.

First, the nobility in this region felt as though the king considered them disposable, a sentiment first produced by the questionable treason charges that lead to conviction and execution of a prestigious nobleman three generations prior. The prince raping a noblemen's daughter without being punished made every person of noble position consider the possibility that it can happen to them too.

There were some members of the local nobility who were set to profit from independence, and saw this as the perfect opportunity. Some had also lost fortunes because of the Orion leadership, and hoped to regain it under a new banner.

Finally, a combination of several poor harvests meant that the common people were angry and beginning to blame the nobility for this despite the fact that it was beyond their control. Turning the anger towards Orion meant that it would not be focused on them.

Any Orion loyalists were disproportionately outnumbered, and either defected to the rebellion or fled. After a brief fight against members of the garrison who did not join, the city that would become the Capitol was now under their control.

* * *

**A Nation is Born**

The city was renamed Kallipolis, under the concept that the ruler of the city would come from a line of philosopher kings. The Kingdom itself was named Panem, to signify that there would be enough bread to go around for all. While Benjamin Snow reluctantly accepted the nomination, he did so under some conditions; the nobility would form a cabinet of Knights to act as the legislative branch of the new government, and his title would not be king. He accepted the title of Grand Knight instead saying the following.

"I do not want to be of a different league than you, nor do I want such an insidious title as king. A king is a rapist and a tyrant and a monster, I intend to be none of those things and would hope for my successors to hold the same opinion."

Benjamin Snow was chosen because of his popularity with the people and the nobility, and because the nobility were afraid of how the people would react to anyone else ruling.

A commoner could rise to nobility by three methods, marriage or adoption to someone of noble birth, being voted in directly by the people after earning a 90% vote, or being awarded a title of nobility by the Grand Knight as recognition for some great deed.

There was no time wasted before the establishment of an army and the fortification of the city in anticipation of an invasion. Sure enough, King Armstrong Orion led an army to retake the city as soon as he got wind of the rebellion. Prince Stephen lead one division of the army in the hope that a victory will make him popular with his people and draw attention away from his wife divorcing him, and from the fact that it was his fault.

Despite the fact that King Armstrong was a seasoned commander, the facts that Kallipolis was in the Rocky Mountains and that defensive perimeters were set up efficiently, meant that he was unable to take the city with a quick assault. While he hoped a siege would do it, the winter season caused more problems for his unprepared army than the for the well stocked Kallipolis.

In a desperate move, King Armstrong led an all out assault on the city. His demoralized army was unable to break the ranks of the defenders, who were lead by the Grand Knight himself. While Benjamin Snow was battling the enemy, Bruce Fisher lead a fraction of the army to sneak outside the walls and attacked King Armstrong's army from behind. The King was able to escape and flee back to the safety of his kingdom, but he had lost almost all of his soldiers and Prince Stephen was killed. This defeat made him unpopular with his people and his approval rating after that never rose above 10%.

While he was probably killed by regular soldiers, there is an unlikely narrative of Benjamin Snow disarming him of his machine gun with his own, and answering his begs of mercy by saying the following before unloading his gun at the prince.

"Mercy? You want mercy? When Lucy begged and cried and asked you to stop, did you? Where was her mercy? You forfeited your right to live when you raped my wife! Youdon't deserve mercy!"

Prince Stephen's severed head would be displayed in the city circle and left to rot for four generations before being moved to the museum of military achievements due to sanitation complaints.

* * *

**Peace, later life, and Death**

In the years after that, there was an unofficial ceasefire between Panem and Orion. Benjamin Snow ruled with fairness and continues the charity he showed to the people. Three times he requested the Knights consul permit him to resign, and all three times his request was denied. He rebuilt the part of the nation damaged in the siege, and payed reparations to the families of those who died in it.

He spent the remainder of his life building up a defensive military in anticipation of another invasion, as well as making Panem economically able to stand on its own.

By the age of sixty five, Benjamin Snow was the nominal leader and most of the actual administration was left to Bruce Fisher. Seven years later, Benjamin Snow would die of food poisoning. An autopsy would be conducted to be sure it was not an assassination.

His only request was that he be buried with Lucy in the Fisher family tomb, but since the Knights Consul wanted him to be buried in a crypt reserved for national leaders, they declared the tomb would be expanded into a crypt reserved for Grand Knights, their immoderate families, and national heroes.

* * *

**Personality**

Benjamin Snow never forgot his humble origins, and not only donated generously, but was also willing to hear what the people thought about a situation. He personally thought that he should only have been Grand Knight for ten years, and that the position should not have been hereditary.

He loved Lucy dearly, stating when she died that "In losing her [Lucy], I have lost a part of myself. Lucy carried my heart to the grave with her, and I will only have it back when my life comes to an end and we are reunited." He never married again and there is no evidence of him having any sexual relations after her death.

Benjamin Snow was in his youth a happy and cheerful man, but the death of his wife turned him into a cold and distant person who threw himself completely into his work. Despite this early sorrow, he never lost his determination or faith.

Despite this fact being denied by Capitol citizens even to this day, all the evidence is clear that Benjamin Snow was a devout Baptist who attended church until old age made it too difficult. It is bitterly ironic when one remembers the anti-theistic laws his distant descendants would put into affect.

When he died Kallipolis shut down for the one week state funeral, and the rest of Panem went into quiet mourning.


	3. Chapter 2:The Builder Warrior

**Name:** Malcroy Snow

**Titles:** Grand Knight of the Panem Kingdom, the conqueror of Orion, the builder,

**Posthumous titles:** President of Panem, Headpeacekeeper of the Armies,

**Born: **441 B.D.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,024 A.D)

**Died:** 348 B.D.D (Gregorian Calendar: 10,117) [old age]

**Age at death:** 93 years old

**Parents:** Benjamin and Lucy Snow

**Spouse(s): **none

**Children:** no legitimate children (several illegitimate children)

* * *

**Elsewhere in the world**

The Panem continent:

The continent is still divided in a continuous state of total war as twenty three successor kingdoms constantly struggle against each other for the remains of old North America, and now have the newly formed kingdom of Panem to contend with.

Panem will wage a war against Orion, utterly decimating the kingdom and bringing them to their knees.

The the defenders of Washington D.C. are able to successfully hold off the siege for twenty three years, causing the Virdian Army to withdraw. They quickly utilize a fleet of primitive ships (many of which are build immediately after the battle by melting down artillery left behind by the Virdian Army) to relocate the entire 35,000 person population, as well as all historical relics and the disassembled historic buildings, to Colombia.

The Latin Continent:

The reinforcements from Washington D.C. manage to tip the balance of the conflict in Colombia's favor since both sides have exhausted most of their fighting men. After utterly conquering the Marxist league, the combined Colombian and U.S. armies are able to swing around and not only overpower but outright conquer an exhausted Equitoria. The U.S. Government in exile and the Colombian Government fuse together to form the Second Gran Colombian Republic, utilizing the best parts if both governments. Since the Colombian people suffered huge demographic loss in the war and only had 50,000 people left, the society of Gran Colombia will also culturally be a blend of the U.S. and Colombia (helped along the way by similar founding ideas). This country claims to be the direct successor to the United States as well as a rebirth of Bolivar's Nation.

The Patagonian tribes have caught a disastrous plague from Antarctica, and have collectively abolished slavery after anti-slavery preachers have declared the plague to be a punishment from God.

The Europa Continent:

King Godwin the Pious converts to Catholicism and declares it the state religion after years of deliberation. He constructs the largest cathedral in Scandinavia, sparing no expense; this is where St. Knut will eventually be entombed upon dying as a result of a stroke. King Godwin also finances and personally sends missionaries to Icelandia and Britannia to bolster the followers in the colonial population. Already 95% percent of the scandinavian population has been converted by St. Knut and his followers by this point.

The Tunisio-Sicilian war ends with the Knights of St. John annexing Tunisia. All POWs are pardoned and offered citizenship, as are all people dwelling in Tunisia. Pope Innocent XXXII does not force them to convert with violence, but instead sends a series of peaceful missionaries that manages to mass convert ninety percent of the population over the span of seven generations.

The Francian Emperor Clovis III dies, and a civil war breaks out between his brother and his son over who should rule Francia. Pope Innocent XXXII steps in and bring the conflict to a peaceful truce. The son is crowned Emperor Clovis VI under the condition that the brother of the late Clovis III can choose the wife of the new emperor, provided the marriage is not an act of incest or in violation of any other canon law.

Belgium sets up a trading post in Gibraltar and begins opening a trade route from the North and Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean sea. They quickly become very wealthy and Chairmen Oswald Kruger begins plans to open up the Black sea to trade.

Greece manages to unite with Macedonia into the Hellenistic League, and the new League invades and conquers an unprepared Bulgaria. This caused the Albanian Junta to agree to join the Hellenistic League. While not joining or forming an alliance with the league, Belgium does secretly sell them weapons and logistical supplies, as well as sending military advisors and mercenaries; aiding the League in preparation for an invasion of the Isolationist Anatolia.

Middle Eastern subcontinent:

The Caliph of United Islam decrees that the Hajj will still go to the uninhibited ruins of Old Mecca. He also establishes an embassy in Anatolia and in the Egyptian Principality.

The Anatolian government tries to reconstruct their nation, and completely closes its borders. This cuts off connection between the Mediterranean and black seas.

A volcano erupts in southern India, causing subcontinental devastation and ending the cultural renaissance.

Africa:

The Tunisian nation is annexed by the Papal States, the people there are given automatic citizenship, the leaders and soldiers are pardoned, and Catholic missionaries sweep over the land to peacefully convert the population. The people prosper as taxes under the Papal States are much lower than under the old rule.

Several nations along the Nile have enacted quarantine, only accepting food dropped in by humanitarian airlifts from the more prosperous South of Africa.

The south of Africa is flourishing from all the food they have, and experiences a population boom.

Belgium sets up a trading port in Gibraltar, and begins regular trade with moroccan clans. Belgium later claims a portion of the coast as its first colony.

Asia:

The Korea-Japanese Republic made a defensive alliance with Australia due to both countries being democracies.

The Slavic Confederation succeeds in holding off the Chinese army, and is now on the offensive. Both sides regularly employ human rights abuses such as concentration camps and use of nerve gas (China), White Phosphorus (Slavic Confederation), or mustard gas (both). Some cities are outright depopulated or disappear from the map altogether.

Oceania:

The Australian Democratic Republic begins construction of an ambitious irrigation system to make it possible to farm the inland.

Antarctica:

Some of the slaves taken by the Patagonian tribes return to their homes, others choose to stay in Patagonia and live as freedmen. The outbreak still rages on.

* * *

**Early Life and collage**

Malcroy Snow and his twin brother Adam did not get to know their mother, as she was killed when they were both very young. They both were upset that they never got to know their mother, and developed a hatred for Orion when they learned exactly how she died. He desired revenge.

Benjamin Snow made an effort to be in their lives, not only training them both for military and political leadership but also making sure they both held a sense of morality and a faith in God. Of the two brothers, Malcroy was always the more charismatic, the braver, and the more outgoing.

According to one story that was heavily exacerbated if not completely made up entirely, he jumped into a rushing river to save his brother from drowning.

There is some evidence suggesting that in his teen years, Malcroy was a member of The White Dagger. The White Dagger was a anti-anarchist vigilante group thats main goals consisted of killing members of The Black Dagger and other anarchists, as well as disrupting anarchist rallies. Anarchism was beginning to decline, and would inevitably fall into obscurity.

Malcroy and his brother received a noblemen's education, and were trained constantly until their father died and Malcroy was needed as a successor.

* * *

**Amassing an army**

Bruce protected Malcroy from manipulation by more experienced nobles, as well as giving him advice on how to proceed. Until the day he died, Bruce Fisher was his most trusted friend.

The first thing Malcroy did was increase military production so as to raise an army. Since at this time Panem was made up only of the city of Kallipolis and the scattering of towns that fell within its territory, Panem's population could only support a defensive army. Malcroy got around this problem by offering mercenaries, criminals, woodsmen, and others deemed unwelcome by the neighboring kingdom a deal they could not refuse: fight in the Panem army for twenty years, and be rewarded with pardon, land, and citizenship.

Those who did not want to fight were allowed to spend those twenty years building up the infrastructure of the new nation or working in the weapons factories he built. Those who were willing to fight would be trained by veterans.

By this method, Malcroy was able to amass a massive army of soldiers. He knew that he promised more land than was in Panem currently, but he also knew where to get more.

* * *

**Revenge campaign **

Without warning or declaration, the army of Panem assaulted the Orion border. His initial plan was to draw the Orion army out with looting and fall back, allowing the Orion army to smash themselves against Panem's defensive fortifications. However, upon realizing how weakened the Orion forces were, he immediately changed his strategy to an outright invasion.

For the Orion kingdom, this invasion could not have been worse. King Armstrong' defeat resulted in him being removed via a coup d'état by his niece, Sharon. Neither of them managed to rebuild the Orion army, nor repay the debts accrued by fighting a two front war. Despite previously having a large army, almost all of their veterans were killed off in the failed attempt to conquer Panem. The closest thing Orion had to a defensive army were hastily raised militias that were both outnumbered, untrained, an unequipped.

They lost land at an alarming rate until Panem army was within three miles of Orion City. Queen Sharon, fearing for her life, tried to escape the city dressed in civilian clothes. However, she was identified by civilians and was beaten to death on the spot by a mob that was angry with her cowardice.

A committee was established, and they managed to negotiate a peace treaty. However, Panem had all the leverage in the negotiation and had to give up nothing. The treaty of Orion City held several conditions that turned the Orion kingdom into a mere remnant of its former power. Among the conditions were the following:

1. Orion would cede all territory except for a single castle on their northern border

2. Orion was to hand over all weapons, horses, automobiles, airplanes, and industrial machinery

3. Orion had to ask permission from Panem to declare war on any other nation at all, even in defense

4. Orion would have to publicly admit to all the other successor kingdoms that it was inferior to Panem, as well as officially recognize Panem as an independent kingdom

5. Orion would have to pay a tribute of twenty four hundred thousand dollars every year for five hundred years

6. The Orion royal family would abdicate entirely, and command of the castle would be given to the next highest Orion noblemen not related to the royal family. All other Orion noblemen would be stripped of title and property.

These conditions caused Orion to go from a moderately powerful successor kingdom to a heavily indebted micro-state. The remaining castle was so vulnerable that it was finally taken over less than a month later when one division of the army assaulted due to having a trigger happy commander. As Orion's prestige disintegrated overnight, and the nation itself disappeared from the map, Panem's neighbors were forced to recognize the fledgling nation as a legitimate power.

* * *

**Triumphant Return and building a nation**

After a successful campaign that doubled the size of Panem, Grand Knight Malcroy Snow returned a hero. He was greeted with a month long celebration as people from all across the fledgling nation applauded the victory over this old enemy.

He quickly used the spoils of war that were leftover after rebuilding the new territory to build up Panem and improve its conditions. Malcroy was determined to see Pane, become a nation that could rival any successor kingdom.

He reorganized Kallipolis into a organized and planned out a design that would make the streets easy to navigate. Back then, the city had a population of just over one million and took up the same space as the City Circle of the Capitol. The city had a variety of industries to fit the needs of the nation, and had at this time developed neither the wealth nor the grandeur associated with the Capitol today.

He build modern military facilities for both the training and housing of soldiers, as well as the production of weapons and armored vehicles. Among the most famous of these are the Kallipolis military academy (which would in modern times house the Capitol peacekeeper garrison), the Museum of National Triumph (later the Museum of Martial Triumph), the Kallipolis fallout bunker (destroyed generations later due to an earthquake and left abandoned until being repaired by Margaret Snow), and the central airstrip (later converted into the Capitol Hoverbay).

Under his rule, Panem was rebuilt as a distinct nation with a standing army and a competent general staff. Airplanes and tanks were built to supplement the infantry and cavalry (though tanks and airplanes were much smaller and of lower quality than those used by North Americans, they were still widely used).

* * *

**Assassination attempts**

While attending the release of a new movie, a former member of The Black Dagger (which had been dissolved three years prior) pulled out a gun and shot Malcroy through the chest. Malcroy survived, and was able to beat the would be assassin nearly to death before being pulled away by medics. In order to show his people that he was unaffected, Malcroy continued his administrative duties from the hospital and even stood up for a press conference to show he was in fact alive.

The second assassination attempt is when he was attending the wedding of his illegitimate son. When one of the servants collapsed unconscious while carrying the cake, the doctor present discovered that there was enough poison in the cake to kill everyone present three times over, and that the fumes are what caused the servant to pass out. Despite a thorough search, no poisoner was found.

* * *

**Later years and Death**

Malcroy was able to keep Panem out of debt for his whole leadership, and was also able to lower the percent of the population below the poverty line from ten percent to four percent. He continued to work diligently even into his old age, only lessoning his workload at the age of with eighty five after constant requesting from his illegitimate children.

On his deathbed, he was able to say goodbye to his family and close friends before going to sleep and dying peacefully two hours later.

Like his father and mother, his body was preserved and stored in the crypt the Grand Knights, which was formerly the Fisher family tomb and would later become crypt of the Presidents of Panem. Despite the changes of designation, no bodies were ever removed from the crypt once interred.

* * *

**Personality**

Malcroy was always energetic, friendly, ambitious, and charismatic. Very popular, he was able to make many friends. Despite being bombastic and theatric at times, he still respected those below his position.

One story that was neither confirmed nor discredited is the story of him jumping into a river during a hunting trip to save a drowning boy. While the story clearly states that nobody recognized him at first, it is possible that the story was made up after his death.

Malcroy was lighthearted, but he still became serious or solemn when the situation called for it. However, he would often joke about it afterwards once the danger had passed; in the press conference following his first attempted assassination he possibly said "I'll die when I'm damn well ready. It takes more than an ounce of lead to kill me."

Despite having a large libido, he was a generous philanthropist and a devout Baptist. He was baptized as a young adult, and his illegitimate children were also raised in his faith.

He considered his womanizing innocent fun, and often remained friends with his exes. Whenever he impregnated a women, he would pay for the child support voluntarily and take a part in his children's lives. He always asked the woman he impregnated to keep the child and would personally raise the child as his own if she wanted nothing to do with it. When one of his children was given up for adoption by the mother, he went to lengthy efforts to track down and adopt the child; when he found the child was already adopted he sent anonymously sent money for child support to the family.

Everybody who personally met him commented on how friendly and open he was, and maybe in a way that was his legacy too.


	4. Chapter 4:The Short Reigning Scholar

**Name:** Adam Snow

**Titles:** Grand Knight of the Panem Kingdom

**Posthumous titles:** President of Panem, the Scholar

**Born: **441 B.D.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,024 A.D)

**Died:** 343 B.D.D (Gregorian Calendar: 10,122) [old age]

**Age at death:** 98 years old

**Parents:** Benjamin and Lucy Snow

**Spouse(s): **Martha Snow

**Children:** Catherine Snow

* * *

Due to the fact that Adam Snow was only president for five years, and that he only outlived Malcroy Snow by that amount of time, the Elsewhere in the world section will be left out of this chapter. The events that occurred in those five years will be placed in the next chapter.

* * *

**Early Life**

Growing up, Adam Snow was a studious and curious young boy. He was shy, bookish, and not nearly as social as his more popular and lively brother Malcroy. There is one unconfirmed rumor that his brother Malcroy saved him from drowning.

Like Malcroy, he missed his mother terribly and wanted revenge once he learned how she died.

In his early childhood, he was raised to be religious and indeed held the faith of his father.

* * *

**Education and romance**

Adam Snow was still a shy man in his early twenties, but he loved learning even more than ever before. He received an education befitting of the higher nobility, and was able to graduate a year earlier than most do.

While in collage he met Martha Winters; her last name was fitting as she was supposedly cold and distant and only thawed around Adam Snow. Looking at the journals they kept showed they genuinely loved each other, and their marriage was by and by successful. In their late twenties, they had their first daughter and only child.

* * *

**Archeological Studies**

One thing that fascinated Adam Snow more than anything else was the past. Since the world was covered with ruins of what once stood before the Collapse of Civilization and the Dark Ages that followed (the same can be said today, if to a slightly mitigated extent), there were constant reminders of the past.

While many archeologists in that time studied almost exclusively the happenings of the pre-Dark Ages civilizations, Adam Snow was interested in what came before them. Through detailed research on the fossils, artifices, and ruins that existed at that time, as well as findings of his own, Adam Snow was able to paint a crude picture of the past and even discover an artifact dating all the way back to the Mesolithic era. He placed the most value on primary sources of writing as well as textbooks used by the ancient peoples.

Despite making strides in the field, he was limited by the events of the time period; it was often dangerous for people of distinction to travel in foreign lands as bandits, outlaws, petty despots, and terror organizations often kidnap important or wealthy figures to ransom them back or publicly slaughter them as part of a political message. Being a member of the royal family therefore made it too risky to travel abroad.

* * *

**Retirement**

Adam Snow retired at age seventy five, spending time with his family and living peacefully in the countryside outside Kallipolis. Adam and Martha Snow lived with Bruce Fisher and kept him company in his last years, Bruce was even Catherine's godfather.

Adam snow was retired with the expectation that he would have peace and quiet; it came as a surprise to him and to his wife when he received a call the week after his brothers funeral that requested him to take up the presidency.

* * *

**Call to power**

Adam Snow did not want to become president, but knowing that there was no one else to do it is why he reluctantly accepted the position.

Many people ignore or forget to list Adam Snow as a Grand Knight because his reign lasted only five years, and because of the massive shadow his predicts or left behind. However, Adam Snow did have a lasting effect on the nation that can not be forgotten.

The elderly Grand Knight singly handedly built up the public education system of the nation from scratch. Before his changes, there was no public education system for the middle and lower class of the nation; there existed only a series of privately owned educational facilities that only the aristocratic nobility and wealthy non nobles could afford. This means that children of the middle and lower classes had to either stay at home or (more often than not) work.

Not only did Adam Snow make education accessible to all, but he also made it mandatory for children to attend school until the age of nineteen (This law would be uninformed by the police for five generations before gradually becoming a law in more than technicality).

* * *

**Death**

Adam Snow died on a peaceful summers day, simply having not woken up in the morning. His death was a year after his wife Martha died. It is likely at he knew he did not have much longer, because he wrote a letter about a few months before and kept it on the pillow where his wife used to sleep. It read as following.

_If you are reading this, it means I am dead. I did not kill myself, nor was I murdered. It was simply my time. Catherine, if you read this than I want to say that I always have and always will love you. Don't worry, I am in a better place and I hope we will someday meet again._

He was buried in the what would become the Presidents Crypt, alongside his wife on one side and his brother on the other. He was buried with a bible in his right hand and a childhood measuring stick was used to bookmark it to Psalms 23:4.

* * *

**Personal Life**

Adam Snow was a somewhat reclusive person. He did not like going to public events, and the only speech he ever gave was for his inauguration. He was only warm with his family and had spare few close friends.

Adam Snow was a severe, formal, and seemingly prudish man. His private journal and the private journal of his wife show that he had an emotional side, as well as putting to rest any rumors of asexuality.

He really loved learning, and studied as often as he could. He would become upset if there was something he not only did not know, but could also not even theorize on. This desire to uncover all the secrets of the past is what prompted him to become an archeologist, as well as to study as much as he did. He is well known for saying "I don't know everything, but I intend to eventually."

Despite being very different from the easy going and fun loving Malcroy Snow, Adam and his twin brother loved each other very much and had a close relationship. As a child, Adam often helped Malcroy with homework while Malcroy taught him how to ride bikes and fish. He notably wept so bitterly to see his brother was dying that Malcroy actually had to comfort Adam _while he was on his deathbed_. Adam Snow reportedly never smiled in public again.

Despite being raised in his father's religion, Adam began to lose faith around adulthood. By the time he was in his late thirties, he was openly dismissive of organized religion. He only rediscovered his faith in God after learning that his brother had _survived_ his first assassination attempt (newspapers originally reported that the bullet had killed Malcroy, causing panic in the streets). He would hold this faith for the rest of his life.

While some men grasp greatness with tight fists and refuse to let go, others are content to sit quietly back and have greatness in their own quiet way. Adam Snow was one of the latter, but he was a great person none the less.


	5. Chapter 5: The Mighty Conquerer

**Name:** Catherine Snow

**Titles:** Grand Knight of the Panem Kingdom, the Great, the Conquerer, the mighty,

**Posthumous titles:** President of Panem, First Headpeacekeeper, Headpeacekeeper of the Armies, Matriarch of District 2,

**Born: **413 B.B.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,052 A.D)

**Died: **331 B.B.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,134 A.D)

**Age at death:** 82 years old

**Parents:** Adam and Martha Snow

**Spouse(s): **Caleb Smith

**Children: **Ronald Snow, Nicholas Snow, Samuel Snow, Melissa Snow, Gregory Snow

* * *

**Elsewhere in the world**

The Panem continent:

The continent is still divided in a continuous state of total war as eighteen successor kingdoms constantly struggle against each other for the remains of old North America. This struggle intensified as the United States government left the continent to co-found the Gran Colombian Republic, resulting in the leader of multiple successor kingdoms claiming to be the rightful president of the continent.

The last Bald Eagle dies in the Virdian Zoological Garden. The species will remain extinct for six hundred years before being resurrected from cloning.

A hurricane strikes the pacific coast of the Panama region, leaving massive devastation and temporarily flooding the cannel.

The kingdom of Panem experiences great expansion under its forth Grand Knight.

The Latin Continent:

The Second Gran Colombian Republic begins a policy of Manifest Destiny and, one by one, conquers or (more often) peacefully absorbs the Brazilian city states. An expedition is sent to cross the Atlantic with the hope of discovering what remains of the Vatican.

The Patagonian Tribes continue to illegally import slaves from Antarctica and practice slavery despite abolitionist laws.

The Europa Continent:

King Kristof the conquer personally leads an invasion and conquest of Greenland. He then turns east and conquers the lands along the Volkhov river, but dies at the battle of Petrograd. Disregarding the policy of treating civilians with respect displayed by King Kristof in his life, his grieving army proceeds to completely raise the city and mass murder the entire population. Despite dying before the city was taken, King Kristof is often unfairly blamed for the mass-murder and is sometimes referred to as 'Bloody Kristof'. It would be hundreds of years before a posthumous warcrimes tribunal declares the late king innocent of all charges.

The Vatican slowly buys land along the North African coast, stretching from the Algerian coast to Cyrene. Pope Innocent XXXII raises the poorer costal communities out of poverty, grants free citizenship to all current occupants, sends peaceful conversion missions, and greatly raises the quality of life for those living there. The borders are open and people can come and go as they wish provided they do not break the law; there is one exception in that no foreign militaries are allowed access through there.

The Francian Empire mounts an invasion of Switzerland; while ultimately succeeding, this invasion will wipe out half the Francian army, temporarily bankrupt the Empire, and result in millions of deaths From both sides. In order to complete the invasion, the Francian Imperial Army employed nerve gas, systematically slaughtered civilians, and took no prisoners of war. The Vatican condemned crimes against humanity committed by the Francian Empire, and threatened to excommunicate the emperor if the charges were not addressed. Emperor Clovis VI claimed to have no knowledge of the atrocities, and hands over General Pierre Froissart (who was in charge of the invasion) to be tried for atrocities. While sentenced to death by hanging, historians agree that Emperor Clovis VI tricked the Vatican and sent a double to be tried instead. The real general likely lived in luxury as a secret military advisor.

Belgium signs a treaty with the Hellenistic League, supplying them with several thousand metric tons of weapons. Belgium also manages to broker a trade agreement with the Dominion of the Israelites. Trade quickly makes Belgium the wealthiest nation in Europe.

The Hellenistic League officially declares war on Anatolia, sending landing forces to Asia minor, as well as getting as far as Istanbul. A lengthy siege of Istanbul sets in, resulting in the city becoming the point of focus in the war. After a twenty year siege, the city will fall to the Hellenistic League when what remained of the landing forces manages to reach the city, resulting in a siege from both sides. They rebuild Istanbul and rename it Constantinople. Once the Black Sea is reopened to trade, Belgium sets up a trading post and a port in Crimea;using the river that empty into the Black Sea, Belgium is able to begin trade with the western part of the Slavic Confederation.

Middle Eastern subcontinent:

The Anatolian government struggles to fend off the Hellenistic League. Separatists in the East of Anatolia take this chance to rebel, placing Anatolia in a two front war. Eventually Istanbul falls. The rebels win out and sign a peace treaty with the Hellenistic League which hands over the entire coastline Asia Minor as well as any islands along said coast. This causes resentment amongst the Anatolian population; resentment which results in violence and discrimination against Anatolia citizens of Belgium, Greek, Bulgarian descent, as well as Christians. These pogroms mirrored violence against Muslims and Anatolians living in the Hellenistic League.

Africa:

The Papal States slowly use peaceful methods to obtain parts of the coastline of the Mediterranean part of Africa. The quality of life there improves significantly, and Catholicism spreads rapidly.

The nations along the Nile lift the quarantine, as the outbreaks subsided.

Belgium captures Sao Tomes and Principe, and begins using the islands as a trading port to set up a trade route connecting Northern Europe and the Mediterranean with Central and South Africa.

A forest fire in the Atlas Mountains kill the Hispanian Grand Duke, who was visit on a goodwill trip and went hunting while there. Accusations of foul play enrage the Hispaniam population, and war is narrowly averted when the Moroccan government launches an investigation, agree to pay reparations that push the nation into huge debt (in order to raise money for the demands they had to borrow trillions of dollars from Belguim), and hand over all two hundred suspects To the Hispanian government for execution. There was no evidence of foul play and historians agree that the fire was just an accident.

Asia:

The Korea-Japanese Republic send emissaries to mediate a truce between China and the Slavic Confederation; they fail in their attempt and the war rages on.

The Slavic Confederation Army fails to capture Beijing, and is being driven back. Chinese operatives in Omsk sabotage a nuclear power plant, causing a meltdown and killing off half the city (before the meltdown the city had millions of people). The Chibese government admits to the sabotage, and claims to have been justified. The Slavic Confederation retaliates; all Chinese POWs are executed, and no prisoners are to be taken from this point on. This atrocity will cause one out of every five Slavic Confederation soldiers to simply allow enemy soldiers to escape capture out of being morally unable to slaughter surrendering enemies.

China retaliates against the massacres if its POWs by sending all its citizens of Slavic descent to a concentration camp in the middle of the Gobi desert. The death toll of the Gobi Camp would rise in the upwards of millions.

The genocide causes Mongolia, which was previously neutral, to join the war on the side of the Slavic Confederation. The war turns back in their favor, but is locked in a stalemate.

Oceania:

The Australian Democratic Republic passes the Second Chance Act, allowing rehabilitated convicts to vote after a probation period of no more than thirty years. However, this does not include those convicted of severe sex offense.

Antarctica:

Emperor Penguins are declared to be extinct in nature by scientists; while endangered, they are still around in isolated locations and will continue to be until being rediscovered and reintroduced to their native habitats centuries later. Penguins would still survive in zoological gardens.

A Belgium trade expedition from Sao Tomes fails catastrophically; the single cargo ship arrived in the winter and were frozen in ice. By the time spring came and the ice melted, only seven of the one hundred and thirteen people on board the ship were still alive. They remaining seven would undertake a perilous voyage back to Sao Tomes, only four will survive this journey. These four will be returned to Belgium as heroes and their Saga would go down in Belgium history.

* * *

**Early Life **

Catherine Snow was always a determined and strategically minded young girl. She was always planning out how to achieve the best results.

Growing up on an escape sometimes got lonely, but this meant that she was close friends with the son of one of her family's servants. She was nice to everyone and treat people differently on anything other than how nice they as a person were.

She was quite curious, much like her parents. However, she did not like science.

* * *

**Collage**

Being part of the nobility, and being related to the Grand Knight, meant that Catherine had access to a better education than most.

While in collage, Catherine began to take an interest in military strategy. While her parents wanted her to graduate, she joined the army immediately after graduation.

* * *

**Army Life**

Since her joining was after the fall of Orion, Catherine sometimes had to be a rather peaceful soldier. However, there was still fighting to be done. In the west, guerrillas from the chieftains on the other side of the Rocky Mountains snuck into the Panem Kingdom and brought with them violence. This violence resulted in a disastrous riot in the factory sector of Kallipolis.

Catherine Snow was one of the many soldiers called in to restore order. They ended up quelling the rioters with relentless gunfire, killing several hundred dissidents and terrifying the rest of the rioters into submission. Despite massive (and often exaggerated) loss of life, the general public applauded this action as a triumph of law over anarchy. This lead to the next step; invasion of the clans from which the rabble rousers originated.

* * *

**Bay Campaign **

Despite what it is often called, the Bay Campaign (often called the the Valley Campaign), involved the conquest of all the tribes west of the Rocky Mountains. It is called this because the fiercest fighting, and the longest part of the battle, involved the Bay Area of what was formerly the North American State of California.

During this battle, Catherine Snow earned her reputation as a military strategic mastermind. During the battle of Lonely Mountain Pass, a hairstyle formed confederation of clans ambushed the Panem Army. The general in charge of the fight, Brutus Elagabalis, was killed early on and the army was thrown into panic. Despite being only a petty officer, Catherine Snow was able to rally the Panem army to fend off the enemy and dig in. The battle saw two thirds of the Panem Army die that day, ending only with a Pyrrhic victory that was just nearly prevented from becoming a bloodbath. The battle was so gruesome that the real numbers on the dead was kept secret from the public until after the war, to the point that an order was given to immediately shoot any and all attempted whistleblowers.

Despite the setback, they managed to dig in until new soldiers were raised from the masses to reinforce the army. Once reinforced, they resumed their conquest. They swept through the scarcely populated desert and entered the western bay.

All the land of the Bay Area fell to them, and then the siege of Fort Francisco (despite being called a fort, it was actually a heavily populated city). The city was surrounded on all sides by waters and the only way to reach it was a large metal bridge, so it was difficult to launch an attack. Once again Catherine Snow would prove her daring.

In the dead of night, Catherine Snow was able to lead four hundred of the soldiers under her command to sneak into the city undetected. From there, they killed guards at all of the major checkpoints and successfully secured the main gate. Panem soldiers were able to rush into the city, ending the siege and the campaign. For her role in taking the city, it was renamed Port Catherine in her honor.

While finishing off enemy stragglers, Catherine Snow received word that her father died. Hiding her grief behind a stern demeanor, Catherine Snow accepted the position of Grand Knight. This did not change her desire for conquest.

* * *

**Training In Warfare**

Catherine Snow immedeatly began training at the military academy, learning everything there was to know about military strategy. She studied for years, and was finally ready to blaze the trail to glory upon graduating. She was able to run the country and find time for this with the help of the Knights Consul, as well as her closest advisor and cousin Nathan Fisher. She met Nathan's brother in law Caleb, and the two soon fell in love.

Caleb was the son of a wealthy landowner and came from enough money to assure Catherine that he was not a gold digger. It was apparent to all who met him that he lacked ambition and was content with what he had; this assured Catherine he was not after her power. Finally, he had also fought in the army and was very comparable with Catherine. Their marriage would result in five children and would only end when Caleb died of cancer, being outlived by his wife for a decade.

Catherine raised a massive army, for the main army was decimated by nearly fifty percent. Not only did she train an army from scratch, she also made sure it was regularly trained and equipped with the best equipment Panem could produce. By the end of it, the Panem army had fifty thousand soldiers, all of whom had been trained non-stop for six years.

* * *

**The Invasion Of The Triple Alliance**

Now ready for battle, Catherine Snow looked south for her next conquest. She would start with the small Navajo Kingdom.

The Navajo Kingdom was made up of descendants of one of the pre-North American cultures. Despite being small, it had defensive structures set up throughout it's whole territory. This kingdom made its profit from exporting surplus produce to neighboring nations. This included its two allies, the Fasces of the Phoenix and MacBethanyburg. When Panem invaded the Navajo Kingdom, the alliance took up arms to defend their mutual interests.

The Fasces of the Phoenix was a totalitarian state that existed on the ruins of what was once the North American state of Arizona. Their army was little more than an oversized militia that relied on sheer numbers to overwhelm enemies or improvising their tactics. The Fasces of the Phoenix was not on its own a powerful nation, but it was not surrounded by hostile powers.

MacBethanyburg was a nation that was situated in what was once the North American state of New Mexico, founded by Major General Drake MacBethany. Like The Fasces of the Phoenix, this country was totalitarian. Unlike its two allies, MacBethanyburg was semi-industrial.

The triple alliance was located in a region that would eventually become part of District 2 and District 3.

The triple alliance mobilized its forces and met the Panem national army in battle. Despite the combined forces main army having almost a million soldiers, the Panem national army was able to win on the first day by clever maneuvering. The battle lasted three days, and on the third day the enemy made a tactical withdrawal.

Despite the fact that the enemy was fighting them every step of the way, Catherine Snow was able to conquer all three nations in the triple alliance within a matter of three years. This could be because of divided leadership amongst the three nations, or because of support from anti-fascist rebels and guerrillas, or due to the widespread desertion and mutinies that resulted from being undersupplied and forced to resort to using human wave attacks. Either way, the triple alliance was conquered and its cultures were nearly erased within Catherine Snow's lifetime.

* * *

**Uthste Plains War**

Next on her list of conquests was the Uthste Kingdom. The Uthste Kingdom was built on the ruins of the three North American States of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This kingdom, despite being large, held only a few major cities. Half the population was nomadic and paid their taxes in cattle. This made the kingdom difficult to conquer, as even after the eight cities were captured a guerrilla war continued on for long afterwards.

Catherine Snow had to draft twenty thousand soldiers, fifteen thousand to garrison the region and five thousand to bolster her army. While she moved on to conquer the kingdom of Dakota, she left General Diocletian Prior to quell anti-Panem sentiment. He used brutal strategies, driving and corralling nomadic resistance into either the desert to the south or to designated killing fields where they would be bombed into oblivion. Upon learning of this, Catherine Snow had the general removed from office. Historians disagree on whether he was tried for war crimes and executed, or simply allowed to live in obscurity. What is known is that by the time General Prior was decommissioned, two million people had been killed.

It is important to remember that atrocities in this war were committed by both sides and that the Uthste were not, as some may like to believe, above acts of cruelty.

* * *

**The Dakota War**

The next kingdom on her list of conquests was the kingdom of Dakota. A successor kingdom like all the others on the continent, its was built on the ruins of the North American States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa.

Unlike other kingdoms, Dakota was an industrialized nation with a standing army large enough and competent enough to defend against most determined foes. This would prove to be the most difficult conquest of Catherine Snow's career.

The Dakota armies deployed almost as soon as Catherine Snow reached their borders, and almost brought her whole campaign to a grinding halt. At the Battle of Bloody Ice, Catherine Snow personally lead her army to victory against an army that was three times as numerous. However, she lost a quarter of her own army and only advanced the front by a few miles.

She was able to conquer the territory by probing the enemy lines and having an all out assault on the weakest spot; a gamble that could have possibly gotten them all killed in an ambush. Speed was of essence in this strategy, and that is exactly what they had left. When the enemies surrounded her army, they became desperate and the only direction left to push was forward. They reached the Capitol city of Dakota, and once again everything was on the line.

Surrounded between the city and the advancing defending army, Catherine Snow had only a short time to take the city and use its defenses against the Dakota army. Despite fierce resistance, she was finally able do just this by dividing her army into two; one to take the Government Building, and one to reach the main prison. Once the prisoners were freed (many of whom were on death row or faced life behind bars), they aided the Panem Army in finishing off the city's defenders and manning the defenses to hold off against the Dakota Army.

The Dakota army tried unsuccessfully to retake the city four times, and all four times they failed. Once the main Dakota army was destroyed, what remained of the Dakota Government abdicated their claim to power in exchange for avoiding execution. As a result, the former capitol city became a base of operations to conquer the rest of the kingdom once fresh soldiers arrived.

* * *

**The Campaign Ends**

Catherine Snow wanted to continue conquering other nations; she wanted there to once again be a president over the continent. However, her armies were exhausted and refused to march another step. Her general staff warned that continuing another campaign could result in a revolution. She pondered what to do for a month.

The antidote of dubious accuracy below tells of how she finally came to the decision.

"The army of Pane, was encamped at a bend in the upper Mississippi River that formed the eastern boundary of the kingdom. The Grand Knight saw that her soldiers were exhausted, weary, homesick, and unable to move more than a few steps at a time. She clothed herself in the cloak of a petty officer and asked the first soldier she met how he felt, he replied 'When I left my wife was pregnant with our first son, I am sure he is a man now. I wish I could see him'. Catherine went over to the second soldier and saw him running his feet, he said 'Please ask the quartermaster for more soothing oil, we all have blisters.' She walked past the encampment and saw the river gushing and flowing too deep and too strong to cross. She thought to herself of how far away the city of her birth was and felt that the land she acquired was enough. They would go home."

* * *

**Returning Home And Founding The Peacekeepers**

Catherine Snow had freshly drafted soldiers to guard the newly conquered territories. The army that marched with her to conquer half the continent went home. As a result of their bravery, they were awarded land south of the Kallipolis region, settling in a city named Ares; this city would eventually become the central city of District 2.

While many people celebrated her return, Catherine Snow was far from universally popular. She actually had to use her returning army to crush a rebellion in the Provence of North Eastern Panem (formerly the Kingdom of Orion).

Because of this victory, she renamed the nations police force/national guard the Peacekeepers. She made sure they were trained well enough to defend the nation against any external or internal foe. Eventually the Peacekeepers would envelop the whole armed forces of Panem and would become just as much a pert of the nation as the Snow bloodline.

* * *

**Refugee Nation**

Following a gain of independence from the Virdian Kingdom, the Louisiana Republic was founded on the ruins of the former North American States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. They knew they could not avoid being reconquered without help and that they needed protection.

Their provisional government approached the Kingdom of Panem with an offer; protect them from the Virdian Kingdom and they will give up their independence and become part of Panem.

Though there was much debating what corse of action should be taken, it was decided that the offer should be accepted. This is the start of a resentment between Panem and Virdia that would last as long as both nations existed.

* * *

**Keeping The Peace**

During her conquests, the people became war weary. People protested, dodged drafts, discriminated against soldiers and veterans, and tried to leave the country. Protesters marched down the streets of Kallipolis demanding an end to war. Half the knights council was also against the war.

However, Catherine Snow would not take 'no' for an answer. From her tent, the Grand Knight sent back instructions to her general staff back home on how to placate the populace. Laws were passed that declared "any attempt to undermine national efforts" an act of treason; this included anti-war and anti-government activism, draft dodging, desertion, aiding the enemy, and demoralizing the public with media. As a result, many celebrities and prominent citizens were arrested or even executed. A list of Draft Rogers and deserters was made known to the public with a bounty on the head of each one, meaning that they could not even trust their own neighbors. Border guards were required to check anyone trying to leave the country, and to shoot them if they were a draft dodger or a deserter.

In order to make people accept the laws and the wars, Catherine Snow founded the Panem Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. This Ministry published pro government works both overtly and anonymously, as well as supporting pro- government artists. It became common to see movies portraying soldiers as heroic paragons of virtue, or to read books on the subject which had chapters devoted to the character or narrator describing in detail how the wars would ultimately benefit Panem.

One well known example is of a Panem actress who actually visited a group of Uthste guerrillas, and stood in front of a camera to declare her support for the enemy. She even manned an anti-aircraft gun and pretended to shoot down Panem plains. Catherine Snow did not like this one bit; the actress's citizenship was revoked, her money and property in Panem was confiscated and sold off to the people, and border guards were ordered to shoot her on sight if she tried to return. The actress commit suicide not long after.

Catherine Snow's popularity rose significantly with her decision not to immediately expand beyond the Mississippi river. It was nearly universal.

* * *

**Death**

Catherine Snow had brought wealth, glory, land, and power to Panem. She spent the rest of her life after the conquests living in peace and administrating the nation. She eventually died peacefully in her sleep after having had a flu for a month.

The whole army, and the whole nation in general, mourned her death. Panem practically shut down, as funerary parades marched down every street in the nation. Her only request be that she be buried in a military uniform. She was, and her body is still preserved in the Presidential Crypt.

* * *

**Personality**

Catherine Snow exemplified determination, bravery, and strategic genius.

She was determined, and nothing could sway her from reaching her goal once her heart was set on it. She would not let anything stop her from forging an empire.

She was brave, and acted bravely a considerable number of times. She always led her army into battle at the vanguard, and before becoming president she won the metal of valor three times. Catherine Snow was willing to recognize bravery in others and started the pension for injured veterans and the widows/orphans of soldiers killed or missing in action.

Her strategic genius is such that Headpeacekeepers today still study her tactics in military academies.

If Catherine Snow was guilty of one thing, it was arrogant pride. She forged a minor kingdom into a great empire that would last millennia after she was gone, and she knew it. She named the former Capitol of every conquered country after herself, and had a metal statue of her placed in the square of those cities.

Despite this, she was wiling to acknowledge that there was a power higher than herself. She was at most a devout christian, and at least a deist.

Catherine loved her children and her husband, and despite the rumors all evidence suggests she was faithful to him.

Historians and sociologists disagree on her sexuality; while most think she was heterosexual, others think she was bisexual or even asexual. Since she wrote did not mention this in her journal, it is impossible to know for sure.

There are numerous works calling praising Catherine Snow as a glorious and wise ruler, and almost as many works decrying her as a tyrannical slaughterer of natives. The truth is not black and white, and it is useless to see the world in generalities. Some things about Catherine Snow were good, while other things were not so good; this does not change the fact that she permanently changed a Panem for the better.


	6. Chapter 6: The Rightful Ruler

**Name:** Nicholas Snow

**Title:** Grand Knight of Panem, rightful sovereign

**Posthumous titles:** President of Panem, the Defender

**Born: **381B.B.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,093 A.D)

**Died: **456B.B.D. (Gregorian Calendar: 10,168 A.D)

**Age at death:** 75 years old

**Parents: **Catherine Snow and Caleb Smith

**Spouse(s): **Rebecca Snow, Margret Snow

**Children:** Septimus Snow, Ulysses Snow, Piper Snow, Marius Snow (adopted), Decius Snow, Willow Snow

* * *

**Elsewhere in the world**

The Panem Continent:

The continent is divided between seven successor kingdoms; the Panem Kingdom, the Virdian Kingdom, the Kingdom of Tyrrhenum, Northern Columbus, the Ontario-Quebec Republic, the Alaskan Duchy, and the Peninsular Kingdom. Each nation is not only competing for resources and power, but also the right to be President over the whole continent.

The Ontario-Quebec Republic will fight a defensive war against Northern Columbus, resulting in yet another temporary armistice.

The Kingdom of Tyrrhenum will successfully industrialize, strengthening feudalism there as factories are built on feudal estates.

The Virdian Kingdom will attempt unsuccessfully to invade Panem, but will not be militarily or economically crippled by the failed invasion. This will sow mutual resentment.

The Second Gran Colombian Republic will smuggle our several North American east coast landmarks that were left behind and relocate them within their own borders. These will include the Statue of Liberty, the Independence Hall, the Ellis Island ruins, and several other landmarks. Said landmarks will remain in the Capitol city of the Gran Colombian Republic to this very day.

Panem suffers a period of turmoil as a result of a war of succession and an attempted invasion by the Virdian Kingdom.

The Latin Continent:

The Second Gran Colombian Republic passes the Popular Approval Act, stating that all Supreme Court and Constitutional Court decisions must receive the approval of a minimum of seventy five percent of the popular vote before going into law. This act prevents the judiciary from overruling the will of the majority with 'watersheds'. Gradually, most other democratic republics will adopt similar safeguards. This will force politicians to place effort into converting the other side as apposed to fighting over the middle ground. It will also result in politics becoming dominated more by moderates as radicals are for the most part ignored.

Three quarters of the Brazilian city states have fallen to the Second Gran Colombian Republic. Government efforts are placed into effect to spread the Spanish language to the Portuguese speaking people. Colombian-Americans move to the new lands to settle, forcing the Brazilians to either adopt their culture or leave.

The Pategonian Tribes undergo a cultural renaissance as a result of massed migration from the Brazilian city states.

The Europa continent:

The Francian Empire attempts to conquer the Germanic republic, but is forced to agree to a truce after Pope Nicholas III threatens to excommunicate the entire Francian government if they cease the war of aggression. The Empire of Francia now extents all the way to the Rhine River.

The Hellenistic League moves its Capitol to Constantinople, and rebuilds/recreates several monuments, statues, and famous buildings that were destroyed between the 1204 sacking of Constantinople and the Dark Ages. One example is the crumbling Hagia Sofia being not only repaired but also rebuilt and turned back into a Cathedral. The Hellenistic League also begin to build up its armies to throw the Slavic Confederation out of the Balkans. They forge an alliance with the Arminian Kingdom, ensuring the Anatolian nation will be on a two front war should they try to retake the coastline.

Belgium succeeds in establishing a trade port in Antarctica, as well as in Patagonia. They loan large amounts of money to the Empire of Francia to get them out of bankruptcy.

The Middle Eastern subcontinent:

The Dominion of Israel begins construction of the Sixth Temple, an engineering and architectural undertaking that will take ten years to build and will be one of the five biggest religious building in the world.

Greek, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Albanian settlers move to the newly conquered territories of the Hellenistic League. This causes tensions between the Anatolian citizens who were already living there, causing them to move inland to the part of Asia Minor still held by Anatolia. Those who stay in the conquered areas are discriminated by a form of racial segregation called 'aphoridzo'.

The Anatolian Nation struggles to recover its economy in the wake of all their land losses and war debts.

The Arabian Caliphate denounces the conquest of Anatolian land and calls for an embargo against the Hellenistic League. Arabia is the only country to cease trade with them, and Belgium smugglers still bring Hellenistic goods to Arabia and vice versa. The embargo is a failure, and it actually backfires by halving Arabian trade revenue. It is dropped within a decade.

Belgium Trade ships reach India, connecting them with the west.

Africa:

The populations of the nations along the Nile explodes following an end to a drought.

Belgium reaches the southern tip of Madagascar and establishes a trade port. From there, they send ships to India and establish a port in Sri Lanka.

Asia:

A truce is agreed upon between the Slavic Confederation and the Chinese Nation. However, this truce falls apart in less than eight months. After the Chinese Emperor and the Grand Marshal were assassinated in a suicide bombing by anarchists (whom the Chinese mistake for Slavic sympathizes), the war between the two powers resumed with a renewed vigor. (Despite the Emperor being restored during the middle of the Dark Age, he was merely a figurehead at this point; the real power was held by the Grand Marshal).

The Slavic Confederation renews the war effort as well, completely taking Manchuria. Both sides of the conflict practice ethnic cleansing, racial genocides, cannibalism, and biological warfare against the other. A large area called 'forsaken land' forms along the borders of these two nations as bombs, toxic gas, and ethnic cleansing result in entire cities being abandoned.

Mongolia ceases to exist as an independent state, instead being split down the middle by China and the Slavic Confederation.

The Japanese-Korean Republic restricts immigration of Chinese or Slavic Confederation Soldiers into their lands due to popular fear of war criminals moving in. Chinese and Slaves can still immigrate there, they just must prove they were never members of either army. The Prime Minister of the Japanese-Korean Republic narrowly prevents the passing of an act that would have closed the borders to all immigrants and forced many Chinese and Slavic nationals to be returned to countries that would execute them.

Oceania:

Kangaroos, which have been a zoo species for a long time, was successfully reintroduced into the wilderness.

* * *

**Early life**

Nicholas Snow grew up in the city of Kallipolis, he and all his siblings were being trained from birth to be a Grand Knight (they were all taught how to rule so that there would be a backup if the oldest died). He was tutored by Dr. Raymond Falcon, a philosophy professor who was a close friend of the Snow family since he took an internship under Adam Snow. Dr. Falcon taught Nicholas the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, Confucius, as well as Hobbes and Machiavelli.

Despite his mother being away conquering foreign lands, Catherine Snow still took the time to visit her children with live video feeds (hologram technology would not be invented for a long time). Because they took the time to be in each others lives, Nicholas Snow had a good relationship with mother. She was not a stranger when she finally returned home.

His father, Caleb Smith, took care of all his children and was kind to them.

* * *

**Education**

Nicholas Snow learned everything he would need to know about running a nation that now ruled half a continent.

While there, Nicholas Snow met the woman who would become his first wife, Rebecca.

* * *

**The War of Succession **

When Catherine Snow finally died of old age, everyone expected Ronald Snow, the oldest son, to inherit the throne. However, since Nicholas proved himself far worthier, Roland was passed up for the position.

However, two years after his coronation, Nicholas found that his brother Ronald had declared _himself_ the rightful heir to the throne and had amassed an army to take it by force.

While Ronald was more popular and had the complete support of the eastern half of the country (as well as three quarters of the army), Nicholas was able to rally support in the western half of Panem. The nation could now only wait while it tore itself apart.

Despite being outnumbered three to one, Nicholas was able to lead his army to victory against his brother's forces on multiple battles. Despite this,Nicholas gradually lost the support of the Knights Consul and Ronald was able to push Nicholas all the way to Kallipolis, where the most important battle of the war took place. At the battle of Kallipolis, Nicholas was able to win a decisive victory. From there, he was able to take back most of his country and his brother's holding was reduced to a corner of land in the Northeast of Panem. From there, Ronald went into debt hiring a huge mercenary army.

* * *

**A Common Enemy**

Taking advantage of the chaos of the War of Succession, the Virdian Kingdom launched an invasion to take over Panem. Invading from the Sputheast, the Virdian Royal Army managed to take large amounts of Panem. Despite this, Nicholas's weary and under-supplied army met the Virdian Army at the Battle of Salty Lake. For the first ten days of the battle, Nicholas's army was entrenched and the Virdian Army was bogged down despite being superior in supply and outnumbering Nicholas twelve to one. Hoping to break the siege, the Virdian General sent for Ronald; the letter promised land and marriage into the Virdian Royal family should Robald help kill his brother.

On the thirteenth day, when Nicholas's army was barely able hold together, Nicholas was greeted with the horrifying news that Ronald Snow's mercenary army had arrived. However, while making what he thought would be his last stand, the battle turned in his favor.

Ronald Snow has attacked the Virdian Army instead, and the battle was turning back in Panem's favor. Below is a description of the battle from a Mormon Clergyman who happened to witness the event. It is an exert from a much larger description, and could be embellished.

"And so the soldiers of Panem charged forth from their trenches, their bayonets and helmets and swords glimmering and shining in the golden sun of the midday; the fair Grand Knight charged at the helm, holding aloft in his hand the banner of his people. As blade clashed against blade and bullet rang out in the air, the besieged fought as lions cornered in their dens.

...

Here entered the knight of darkness, but aloft was not the flag of his false cause but the same banner that the Grand Knight held; gripped in his hand was a spear, the spearhead tipped with a venomous poison. Arriving to the struggle, he repented through an act of valor in defense of his brother."

Ronald and Nicholas Snow were able to win the battle, and the Virdian Army fled all the way out of Panem. However, this victory came at a heavy price for the Grand Knight.

His brother Ronald lay near-mortally wounded on the ground. Believing he was about to die, Ronald asked that God and Nicholas forgive him, and then renounced his claim to the throne. His last words before falling into a coma were "Long live Nicholas Snow."

Though he didn't die, he would not wake up from his coma for twenty years. When he did, Nicholas was the first person to greet him, even before his wife.

* * *

**Driving out the foreign invaders**

With a fresh army, and a recent victory over the Virdian Army, Nicholas Snow rapidly retakes the parts of Panem lost in the war. After driving out the enemy from his land, he gathers all the enemy Prisoners Of War and gives the Virdian King Bedford VII an ultimatum; agree to a ceasefire treaty and a payment of reparations or all Prisoners Of War will be executed (various sources, including his own journal and his autobiography, have lead historians to a general agreement that this was simply a bluff).

Fearing how his people will react if he refuses, and wanting to recover his losses to try again, King Bedford VII agrees to the offer and signs the Treaty of the Mississippi Boundary. The treaty held the following terms.

1. All Virdian Prisoners Of War will be returned unharmed

2. The Virdian Kingdom will recognize the independence of Panem.

3. No Virdian soldiers will cross the Mississippi River.

4. The Virdian Kingdom must pay reparations for damage to the Kingdom of Panem caused by their invasion.

While this treaty ended the first clash between the two powers, the seeds of mutual resentment were already planted. The Virdian Army committed numerous atrocities against the nation of Panem. Most notorious was the Rape of New Smolensk (a North American city founded in the early stages of the Dark Age), during which a million civilians were massacred and one and a half million civilians were brutally raped. All Prisoners Of War were screened by the Panem government; any who was in the city at the time would be sentenced to twenty years in prison, and any who was known to have commit an act of barbarism would be publicly executed.

The mutual resentment would in later generations lead to war later on, as well as an end to Virdian independence.

* * *

**Rebuilding and ruling**

Nicholas Snow rebuilt his war torn nation, and rebuilt his army to guard the border. The Virdian Invasion had not killed off too many people, but it killed enough for discontent people to throw their support to the Panem government out of fear of the foreign aggressors.

Nicholas ruled his kingdom efficiently, managing the economy so well that the nation recovers and is prosperous again. All mercenaries who fought alongside the Snow brothers at the Battle of the Salty Lake were naturalized as reward for their survice.

* * *

**Death**

Nicholas Snow died peacefully in a public park; he sat down on a bench and died there.

The whole nation went into mourning over his death, and an elaborate funeral was held for him. He was buried in what would become the Crypt of the president, his wives at each side.

* * *

**Personality**

Nicholas Snow threw himself into everything he did, never taking anything lightly. This resulted in him working at full capacity until the day he died. He never gave up, not even when the odds seemed hopeless.

Despite their strained relationship, Nicholas Snow and his brother Ronald reconciled after the battle of Salty Lake. Nicholas was actually the first to greet Ronald after his waking from a coma twenty years later; Ronald repaid the forgiveness by becoming Nicholas's closest political advisor and even stopping a coup in it's tracks by outing all the participants. They died within three years of each other.

Nicholas was the first of many presidents to have more than one spouse at a time. He justified this by saying he loved them both, and that his first wife allowed this. Between his two wives he had seven children. Despite being a polygamist, Nicholas never cheated on his wife (from what historians know).

He loved all his children, and raised them with tenderness. However, he also raised them all to be leaders.

Nicholas Snow was raised to be a christian like his parents and grandparents, but while he believed in the religion he did not join one specific denomination. It is agreed by historians that this was do to him believing that each had something to contribute.

He was determined and somewhat stubborn, refusing to ever give up in the face of adversary. This is what made him a great leader.


End file.
